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ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2005 43 ment analysis and an 11m demonstrator model. The design of the centre hull was also influenced by the engine configuration. Two engines are mounted one behind the other either side of the centre line of the hull. These engines deliver their power to a two-speed combining gearbox which drives a booster waterjet. The other two engines are mounted in an aft engineroom and drive the port and star- board manoeuring waterjets. Two elec- tric, retractable, azimuthing bow thrust- ers are provided for docking and close quarter manoeuvring. Fred Olsen SA ordered the ship in June 2003 and construction started soon after. Construction took just 12 months. Benchijigua Express was launched in September 2004 and commenced com- missioning trials in November. With tri- als complete the vessel will depart from Austal's shipyard on a 9500 nautical mile delivery voyage to the Canary Islands. In partnership with General Dynam- ics of the US, Austal is also offering the trimaran hullform for the US Navy's US$12 billion Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project and is working with Raytheon Australia to bid for the upcom- ing Australian government tender to build two amphibious ships. Patrol boats for Navy A 10th and final patrol boat for the Yemeni defence ministry was com- pleted recently. These vessels are 37.5m long and have a maximum draft of 2.2m. Two Caterpillar 3512, 1305kW diesel en- gines drive fixed pitch propellers via Reintjes gearboxes. Other patrol boat contracts com- pleted in recent years include eight for the Australian Customs Service, nine for the NSW Water Police and three for the government of Kuwait. In recent years Austal has emerged as a significant defence shipbuilder. Currently it has a contract to build twelve 56m patrol boats for the Aus- tralian Navy. Construction on these vessels started in April 2004 and will continue until mid 2007. These deep V alu- minium monohull vessels have a draft of 2.7m. Two MTU diesel engines of 2320kW drive fixed pitch counter-ro- tating propellers through two ZF gear- boxes. Cruise ship from North Queensland The Cairns-based shipbuilder and en- gineering firm NQEA is putting the final touches to a 63m steel monohulled cruise ship, Oceanic Princess, which will be delivered next month. According to Don Fry, the chairman and owner of NQEA, this is the first seagoing cruise ship to be built in Australia for many years. The vessel will sail in Australia's northern seas as well as cruise to Papua New Guinea, Tasmania and New Zealand as part of its annual sailing schedule. Another project currently under way is the lengthening of a 30m aluminium ferry for Big Cat Green Island Cruises by adding a 4.8m section amidships. The hull and superstructure parts were pre- fabricated to minimise the out-of-opera- tion period. Fry said some diverse projects were completed in 2004. Firstly, a 14m aluminium advanced design glass bottom boat built for Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises. The boat fea- tured a low-wash bow and a corrugated bottom to reduce wind drift in shallow coral reef waters. Hawkins Ferries, a Brisbane transport operator, commissioned NQEA to build a 58m roll-on/roll-off vehicle/passenger catamaran ferry, the Moreton Venture (known as MI Cat). The vessel, built from plans from International Catamaran Designs in Sydney, was delivered in March 2004. It travels daily between Brisbane and Moreton Island and carries up to 360 passengers and 50 vehicles. The steel-hulled vessel features a bow ramp for beach loading and a resiliently mounted aluminium superstructure that spans the entire vehicle deck. In April, the 24m aluminium over- night dive monohull, "Scubapro III" was delivered to Pro Dive (Cairns). This ves- sel was built to the same design as their previous dive boat, "Scubapro II", also built by NQEA. Another project involved building, to Crowther Designs blueprints, two 22m aluminium high-speed catamarans for Kwajalein Range Services (acting for the US Army). These vessels are fitted with Oceanic Princess, built by NQEA of Cairns, will be delivered next month to Coral Princess Cruises.